At 8 years old, Shasta Groene and her brother were abducted by Joseph Duncan - a pedophile convicted of sexual abuse who served multiple life sentences before finally being caught at Denny's restaurant and sentenced to death row. Groene now resides in Idaho but shared her experience with PEOPLE this week in hopes that it might provide hope to victims of violence.
Groene remembers her time in captivity well; huddling under covers and using a pillow as protection from Duncan's relentless beatings; realizing only she would survive was one of the hardest lessons she ever learned.
Groene was forced to watch Duncan murder her mother Brenda, older brother Mark McKenzie and Slade with an axe before using a hammer to strike them down with deadly blows, according to court documents. Groene promised her brother they would all make it out alive from this massacre.
Groene and her brother managed to fool their captor by writing letters telling family they were safe despite his best efforts, only for him to turn on them all and murder them all anyway.
Idaho's sole survivor of one of Idaho's highest-profile murder cases now wants to use her fame for good and has made great strides since Groene survived her ordeal 10 years ago. Watch how Groene continues to thrive today.
